---
title: "Panama’s education chief calls for a student-centered reset in schools"
date: 2026-05-20
modified: 2026-05-24
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/2026/05/20/panama-education-reforms-molinar/
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "education reform"
  - "Lucy Molinar"
  - "Ministry of Education"
  - "Panama"
  - "Panama schools"
  - "student-centered learning"
---

# Panama’s education chief calls for a student-centered reset in schools

## What Happened

Education Minister Lucy Molinar used the Education Forum 2026 to argue that Panama’s school system drifted away from its core mission over the past decade and must now be reorganized around students’ needs. Speaking at the event organized by La Prensa and the Fundación Banco General, she said the Ministry of Education is trying to restore a culture in which academic decisions, school management and classroom practices all serve children and teenagers first.

Molinar said the problem is not only curricular or administrative. In her view, Panama’s education crisis also reflects emotional and social pressures inside and outside the classroom, including violence, family abandonment and weak school leadership. She described direct interventions in cases involving fights, gangs and even an attack on a teacher, saying those episodes often reveal deeper personal and community breakdowns.

## Why the Ministry Is Changing Course

The minister framed the current effort as a cultural shift rather than a simple policy adjustment. That distinction matters in Panama, where education debates often focus on infrastructure, teacher hiring or curriculum updates, while the day-to-day experience of students can be shaped by discipline, support systems and whether schools are organized to respond to local realities.

Among the measures she highlighted is “Maestro por Vocación,” a strategy meant to reinforce the human and formative role of teachers. She also said the ministry is bringing back regional councils of directors, a move intended to revive coordination among school leaders and decentralize decisions so that solutions fit the conditions of each region.

Molinar pointed to a pilot plan in Herrera launched in 2011, where primary-school students from fourth grade onward were taught by subject specialists. She said that approach improved academic performance and later gained support from international assessments such as PISA. Her remarks suggest the ministry wants to use regional experience to justify broader changes in how subjects are taught across the country.

## Curriculum, Technology and the Role of Teachers

She also said the ministry has resumed specialty congresses with universities, teachers and the private sector to update academic content. The goal, she argued, is not only to teach subjects well but to make sure what students learn is useful for life beyond school.

That broader argument extends to technology. Molinar addressed artificial intelligence and acknowledged that it will reshape learning, but insisted the teacher cannot be replaced. For Panama, where public schools face persistent quality gaps, the message is that digital tools should support instruction rather than substitute for the classroom relationship that still anchors most students’ education.

## Schools as Community Spaces

Molinar also defended arts, sports and cultural activities as essential parts of school life, not extras. She cited music, theater, school bands and athletics as ways to strengthen convivencia, or shared life, inside schools. Her comments reflect a growing recognition across Latin America that students’ social and emotional development can affect attendance, behavior and learning outcomes as much as test scores do.

To reinforce literacy and writing, she said the government is reviving the National Story Festival. She warned that many students struggle to understand what they read, and said improvement depends on sustained practice. She also confirmed support from the Instituto Cervantes and the Royal Spanish Academy and said Panama will host a future World Congress of the Spanish Language, a development that would place the country in a visible cultural role in the region.

## What This Means for Panama

Molinar’s remarks point to a ministry trying to reframe education reform as a national priority tied to social stability, not just academic administration. Her criticism of clientelism and irregular practices inside the system also signals that the reform agenda will likely involve internal restructuring, not only new programs.

For families, teachers and school directors, the next questions are whether the ministry can translate this rhetoric into classroom-level improvements, stronger leadership and better support for students facing emotional or social hardship. In a country where education outcomes can influence future employment and mobility, the success of this reset will matter well beyond the school year.